Packaging machine



July 2, 1968 Filed May 31, 1966 H. CRISCI PACKAGING MACHINE 3 heets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HARRY CR! SCI ATTORNEY y 2', I H. CRISCI 3,390,510

PQACKAGING MACHINE Filed May 31, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

I9 F o 24 22 2s 72 I0 0 INVENTOR. HARRY CRISGI 3 Jar 1 0!? July 2, 1968 H. CRISCI PACKAGING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 31, 1966 FIG. 4

INVENTOR. HARRY ORISCI 73. v m m ATTORNEY United States Patent This invention relates to a packaging machine and more particularly to a machine for packaging articles such as empty polyethylene bottles in polyethylene film.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a packaging machine which will receive a plurality of articles to be packaged, hold them in suitable superimposed relation, align them vertically and horizontally and position a flexible bag thereover to suitably enclose the same.

Packaging machines heretofore known in the art have generally positioned articles to be packaged in preformed containers such as, for example, those formed of paper board, corrugated cardboard or the like.

The problem of inexpensively packaging light weight bulky articles such as empty polyethylene bottles, for example, has been solved by the present invention which makes possible the rapid inexpensive packaging of such articles and others in an inexpensive air and water tight bag formed of plastic film such as polyethylene and capable of being closed by gathering the neck portion together and clamping the same with a clamping ring by suitable clamping means.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the packaging machine with parts'broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the machine.

FIGURE 3 is a front view of the machine. Broken lines in FIGURE 4 indicate the tilting movement of a portion of the machine.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seen that the machine comprises a base formed of two pairs of legs held in spaced relation by horizontally disposed frame members 11. The upper ends of the legs 10 carry transverse frame members 12, the forward ones, the left as seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, being relatively higher than the rearward ones. The frame members .12 are inclined so that their uppermost surfaces are at an angle from horizontal and the remainder of the packaging machine is disposed on this angle.

By referring now to FIGURES 1 and 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that there are a pair of brackets 13 secured to the frame members 12 at one side thereof, the right side in FIGURE 3 and that they support a pivot shaft 14 which extends through apertures therein and also through apertures in a pair of depending brackets 15 which are attached to and form a part of a bottom plate 16 which as may best be seen in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, has a cut away area in the front central section thereof. There is a vertically standing back wall 17 and a right side wall 18 which are joined to one another at their right rear corner as best seen in FIGURE 2 of the drawings. The rear wall 17 and the right side wall 18 are attached to the bottom plate 16 and the bottom plate is made rigid by the provision of a plurality of spaced angle frame members 19 one of which is positioned immediately adjacent and se- "ice cured to the lower edge of the side wall member .18. A secondary side wall member 20 forms the left side of the packaging machine as seen in FIGURES 2 and 3 of the drawings and this side wall 20 is movable toward and away from the opposite side wall 18.

Still referring to FIGURE 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the lower end of the side wall 20 is mounted on a pair of brackets 21 which are in turn secured to the outer ends of a pair of rods 22. The rods 22 are positioned transversely of the device above the frame members 12 and below the angles 19 through apertures in extensions of two of the angles 19 so that while the rods 22 may be moved longitudinally they are movable with the bottom plate 16 and the rest of the packaging machine as it pivots about the shaft 14 as heretofore described. A cam actuating lever 23 is provided to impart longitudinal movement to the rods 22 and a coil spring 24 journalled between one of the carrying extensions of the angles 19 and a shoulder on one of the rods 22 normally biases the rods 22 and the end wall 20 outwardly of the packaging machine, to the left as seen in FIGURES 2 and 3.

It will thus be observed that articles to be packaged by the machine, such as empty polyethylene bottles as seen in position in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, will automatically rest against the back wall 17 and will be moved toward the right hand side wall 18 by the movable left hand side wall 20 so as to arrange the articles in desirable assembled relation.

By referring now to FIGURES l and 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that there are a pair of inclined arms 24 attached to the back frame member 12 and extending rearwardly and upwardly relative thereto. The upper ends of the arms 24 support bearings 25 which are secured to a pair of spaced vertical belt frames 26. A transverse shaft 27 extends between the belt frames 26 and engages the bearings 25 and forms the fulcrum about which the belt frames may pivot. Broken lines in FIGURE 1 of the drawings indicate relative movement of the belt frames 26, solid lines showing the same in position close to the back wall 17 of the machine and broken lines showing them tilted outwardly and away therefrom, to the right as seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. The belt frames have a pair of transverse frame members 28 attached thereto in vertically spaced relation and these carry forwardly projecting arms 29 which in turn are attached to shoes 30 adjacent their upper and lowermost ends. The upper and lowermost ends of the shoes 30 are bent backwardly at an angle from the generally vertical plane of the shoes 30. The belt frames 26 also support offset bearing structures 31 which journal shafts 32 having pulleys 33 on their outermost ends. Endless belts 34 are trained over the pulleys 33 and are thereby movable toward and away from the back wall 17 by the pivotal action of the belt frames 26 heretofore referred to. Means for imparting motion to the pulleys 33 and the endless belts 34 trained thereover is provided and is best illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings where it will be seen to comprise a combination electric motor and gear reduction unit 35 having a driving pulley 36 thereon and a belt 37 interconnecting the driving pulley 36 and a secondary pulley on the lower shaft 32.

The combination electric motor and gear reduction unit 35 which supports the drive pulley 36 is attached directly to one of the belt frames 26 heretofore referred to and thereby pivots along with the belt frames when the same are moved.

, In order that the belt frames 26, the endless belt 34 and their driving means as heretofore described may be moved into and out of operating position adjacent the back wall 17 of the packaging machine, an air cylinder 38 is pivotally mounted on a depending member 39 attached to one of the transverse frame members 12 and the piston rod thereof is pivotally secured to the lower end of one of the belt frames 26. Compressed air supplied from a source (not shown) and controlled by suitable manual valves (not shown) energizes the air cylinder 38 and causes the belt frames 26 to move in desired degree as hereinbefore described.

In operating the packaging machine disclosed herein a roll of interconnected plastic bags is positioned above the machine on suitable means (not shown) and the open lower end of one of the bags on the roll is normally positioned just above the upper ends of the packaging machine and more specifically the side walls 18 and and back wall 17 thereof. In FIGURE 1 of the drawings the open bottom end of the plastic bag may be seen and the same is identified by the letter B. Arrows indicate the direction of movement of the plastic bag downwardly over the side walls 18 and 20 and back wall 17 together with any articles that may be positioned thereon. Still referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, it Will be seen that a plurality of empty plastic bottles have been positioned in the packaging machine on a square section of ca-rdboards 40 which has been placed on the bottom plate 16. The bottles are stacked in the machine with their bottoms against the back wall 17 and a second piece of cardboard is positioned vertically in front of the first stack of bottles and is indicated by the numeral 41. The second stack of bottles is then positioned in the machine with their cap ends abutting the cardboard 41. It will thus be observed that the bottles positioned in the machine present relatively solid surfaces on the four sides of the assembled bottles and that they can then be moved into engaging relation by the movable side wall 20 which is moved manually by the cam actuating lever arm 23 heretofore disclosed. When this has occurred the open bottom end of the plastic bag B is manually pulled downwardly over the opposite side walls 18 and 20 and the back wall 17 and the articles positioned in the machine and the electric motor and gear reduction unit energized to start the belts 34 Which will move in counterclockwise relation as seen in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. The air cylinder 38 is then actuated and as the belts 34 move in toward the back wall 17 they engage the lower edge of the plastic bag B and slide it downwardly by continuous engagement therewith over the entire group of articles in the machine as well as over the opposite side walls 18 and 20 and the back wall 17. When the bag has been moved downwardly until its closed upper end reaches the top of the machine, the motor 35 is deenergized and the air cylinder is operated again to tilt the belts 34 and their carrying arrangement outwardly and away to the position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 1 of the drawings. The bag is then separated from the next bag thereabove and the entire upper portion of the packaging machine now enclosed in the plastic bag is tilted sidewardly as seen in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the device pivoting on the shaft 14 until the right side 18 is moved to horizontal position. At this time the bottom plate 16 is in vertical position and the operator places one hand against the cardboard 40 which is exposed through the cut away area in the bottom plate 16 and pushes the entire package in the bag along the side wall 18 which is now on the bottom of the package and off onto a suitable support (not shown). It will be observed that the articles are thus moved outwardly of the side walls 18 and 20 and the back wall 17 of the device and are now solely contained within the plastic bag with the cardboard divider portion 41 in position between the inner ends of the articles and the cardboard 40 closing the open end of the plastic bag. The assembly is then tipped up so that the open end becomes the upper end and the plastic is gathered together to complete the package formed by the machine.

It will thus be seen that a relatively simple and efficient l packaging machine has been disclosed which will facilitate the grouping and positioning of article-s to be packaged and hold the properly positioned grouped articles in desirable arrangement While a plastic bag is positioned thereover and that the machine not only moves the plastic bag into position but provides for the tilting motion necessary to move the package onto its side where it may then be conveniently and easily moved out of the machine and completed by fastening the open end of the plastic bag.

By referring again to FIGURE 2 of the drawings, it will be observed that the inner sides of the side Walls 18 and 20 are provided with oppositely disposed pairs of vertically extending angles 42 and that the bottom plate 16 is notched as at 43 to accommodate the angles on the movable side portion 20. These angles 42 facilitate the positioning of the vertical cardboard partition 41 heretofore described and help hold the package in desirable position and arrangement while the plastic bag B is being moved downwardly thereover and continue to hold and guide the articles while the package is moved sidewardly away from the machine as heretofore described.

It will thus be seen that a packaging machine has been disclosed which efficiently performs the intended purpose and having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A packaging machine comprising a base, a bottom plate pivotally mounted on said base, vertically standing back and side walls on said base and extending upwardly thereabove, a pair of endless belts positioned in spaced parallel relation and adjacent said back wall and means on said packaging machine for moving said belts toward and away from said back wall, means for driving said belts, said belts being arranged to engage a bag positioned over the upper ends of said back and side walls so as to slide the same downwardly thereover.

2. The packaging machine set forth in claim 1 and wherein one of said side walls is movably mounted for motion toward and away from the other of said side walls.

3. The packaging machine set forth in claim 1 and wherein the means for moving the belts toward and away from said back wall comprises a vertical frame, shafts journalled on said frame, pulleys on said shafts and said belts being trained over said pulleys and means pivotally mounting said frame in spaced relation to said machine.

4. The packaging machine set. forth in claim 1 and wherein the means for moving the belts toward and away from said back wall comprises a vertical frame, shafts journalled on said frame, pulleys on said shafts and said belts being trained over said pulleys and means pivotally mounting said frame in spaced relation to said machine and shoes positioned on said vertical frame to engage said belts on their inner sides so as to urge their outer sides toward said back wall of said machine.

5. The packaging machine set forth in claim 2 and including members movably mounted on said bottom plates and engaging said movable side Wall and cam means for imparting movement to said members in one direction and spring means for imparting movement to said members in the opposite direction.

6. The packaging machine set forth in claim 1 and wherein said pivotally mounted bottom plate is pivoted to said base at one side thereof adjacent the lower end of one of said side walls may move from vertical to horizontal position and become the effective bottom of said machine.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,515,937 11/1924 Dippel -1 53-392 X 2,016,418 10/1935 Eberling et al. 53-392 X 2,757,500 8/1956 Heinl et a1. 5 3-392 X 3,161,003 10/1962 Grintz 53-390 X WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Primary Examiner. R. L. FARRIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGING MACHINE COMPRISING A BASE, A BOTTOM PLATE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE, VERTICALLY STANDING BACK AND SIDE WALLS ON SAID BASE AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREABOVE, A PAIR OF ENDLESS BELTS POSITIONED IN SPACED PARALLEL RELATION AND ADJACENT SAID BACK WALL AND MEANS ON SAID PACKAGING MACHINE FOR MOVING SAID BELTS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID BACK WALL, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID BELTS, SAID BELTS BEING ARRANGED TO ENGAGE A BAG POSITIONED OVER THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID BACK AND SIDE WALLS SO AS TO SLIDE THE SAME DOWNWARDLY THEREOVER. 